Amy Felske, a doll maker who lives in Irasburg, is one of the artists featured in Frog Hollow's exhibit that reinterprets tales from the Brothers Grimm. / Frances Cable

Written by

Amy Felske

Are you drawn to dolls because of the stories they evoke like I am? Small children spend hours whispering to their dolls, sharing their thoughts and secrets with this most trusted friend. Older children pit their dolls against all sorts of challenges, creating elaborate worlds and enticing situations in which their companions triumph over adversity. Sometimes dolls can just exist in an imagined beautiful place of peace. As adults, we do not lose this attachment to the imaginary. In some ways being able to step away from ourselves and look at the world again with wonder as we age is more important than ever. Dolls remind me of familiar stories from the past and can strike a chord of memory that frees the imagination.

I have been making dolls for over 20 years. For me doll making is very much like storytelling. As my creation takes form, its story evolves and the doll’s personality begins to direct the way the piece takes shape. Searching for the right materials for each piece is a wonderful treasure hunt. A few years after we found our home in Irasburg. I was lucky to discover and join the Mountain Fiber Folk cooperative in Montgomery Center. Since then I have been able to use our luscious Vermont-grown wool, llama, angora, alpaca and mohair fibers in my dolls. These fibers are used in wet felted wool for cloaks, hand-dyed hand-spun troll hair and wherever else my imagination leads. By incorporating vintage fabrics, lace and buttons into my work; I try to evoke the past, taking small treasures someone left behind and finding new purpose for it. Pearls, glass and stone beads to add shine and texture to dragon’s hides; fine silk adorns woodland elves; and frayed denim clothes garden gnomes. I combine all of these wonderful materials in my dolls to create fantasy worlds. The cloth and fiber become the blood and bone and my stitches are the animating threads of this new creation.

The Frog Hollow Gallery’s Grimm’s Project is collaboration in which several artists chose a fairytale from the Brothers Grimm as the inspiration for their own work. I chose The Seven Crows because I love the crows that live in my woods. Their scolding calls and muttering voices are familiar sounds around my house and studio. Their raucous flight, expressive postures and clever shining eyes make them endlessly fascinating and entertaining.

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The Seven Crows may be one of the Grimm’s lesser known fairy tales but it has always been one of my favorites and deserves to be better known. It is a story of foolishness, loss and redemption; like many traditional stories it includes a quest that requires the determination and sacrifice of a hero to complete. My piece is composed of three antique barn board shadow boxes. Two boxes have the 7 brothers trapped in their crow forms, the brothers are sewn from over dyed distressed silk and have hematite eyes. They are perched within the boxes alert to a sound beyond their sight. The sister is sewn from muslin with angora goat fiber for hair. She is dressed in antique silk, lace and vintage sari silk. She stands ready to unlock the door at the moment when she will complete her quest to free her brothers from their evil spell.

Rarely when I begin a project is there a fixed direction. In creating my dolls, their own stories evolve. The inspirations I prefer are open ended and must be interpreted by the viewer. It is this potentiality that gives life to my dolls. What each person takes from my work depends as much on their imagination as mine. While the Seven Crows represents a departure from my usual approach because it presents a key moment in a fixed storyline, I still see the possibility of a different ending to this tale. Perhaps the brothers will fly off in a flurry of wings before the sister is able to break the spell. Who can tell until the door is opened?

Amy Felske is a doll maker who lives in Irasburg, Vermont. She shows her work at the Mountain Fiber Folk cooperative in Montgomery Center and also at Frog Hollow Gallery on Church Street in Burlington. She is currently part of Frog Hollow’s Brothers Grimm Exhibit, running through Oct. 31. Contact her at amyfelske@gmail.com.